The Pawn
by SIN Productions
Summary: In the end Himeno saved Takako from despair but she never truly saved Mawata. One Shot.


_**The Pawn**_

**Sin Productions**

The Second Coming belongs rightfully to SIN Productions © 2005. Plagiarism is illegal and is considered a crime. Pretear is © AD Vision, Inc. All rights reserved. Comments and criticism are welcome. Rated PG.

In the end Himeno saved Takako from despair, but she never truly saved Mawata. One-Shot. COMPLETE.

* * *

Things were not as easy as they seemed. On the outside she was reformed, a different person than she was days ago. But on the inside it was a completely different story. You could always hide away from others, but to conceal the truth from yourself was impossible.

She wished she had been the Pretear who had risked life and limb to save essentially the world and her Leafe Knights. One so pure of heart and even purer intentions it was hard to remember her as the same Himeno who was always laughing.

She even wished she had been the one responsible for mass destruction; even she had a Knight that vowed to protect her and save her with his own life.

Instead she had been the one on the opposite end of the spectrum, merely a pawn, something so insignificant and disposable that for the longest time in the overall puzzle she had gone unnoticed. Although at the end of things Fenrir uncovered her despair and trumped the pawn to Queen in her scheme to institute revenge.

Yet even as good triumphed over evil Fenrir was loved, as Himeno was: loved by their Knight in Shining Armor.

Even trumped as Queen she could still be put into checkmate, and to put into perspective that's exactly how she felt. True the aftermath _had_ changed her and she saw things differently now. She was happy her family loved her in their own ways and was even so bold as to claim she was relieved to have confessed her true feelings about being alone.

Everyone now paid special attention to her, and it was a blessing and a curse at the same time. Perhaps it was a true fairy tale to have seven knights a breath away to rescue you, but it wasn't what she was after.

Mawata stole away to her bedroom balcony and was leaning against the rail as her gaze was fixed on the luminescent moon towering in the black sky. The weather had turned chilly and the promise of snow persisted in the air. She alone was the only one awake in the mansion due to restlessness and the inability to sleep.

And that in part was due to _him_.

So many times she had heard his words echo through her head she now had his sessions memorized by heart and his face engraved in her mind. She hadn't been able to bring herself to listen to him anymore on Wordsgate for fear of him mentioning or hinting around his relationship with Takako.

It would've eased the pain if she could learn to hate her, or even dislike her, but the only feeling she managed whenever her name was brought up was fear. Not a cold, frightening fear of the past Princess of Darkness but a realistic fear that she could've ended up so heartless and bitter, wasting her life over unreturned feelings from one man in a million.

But somehow a Leafe Knight didn't seem as average as she hoped so. When she believed he was just a late night DJ she had loved him believing he was human like her. Now that she knew he was borderline immortal it made her heart summersault. In one sense it made the possibility of him loving her even more unattainable. But in another light her daydreams plagued her thoughts, as she'd make believe she was in danger and the Leafe Knight of Sound would rescue her.

And so she had waited to catch a glimpse of Sasame since the fateful day she found out Himeno was a Pretear. But he had knowingly never came around. He never seemed to venture out of Leafunia unless he was scheduled at AwayukiFM and then after went straight back.

She knew he was happy though, she knew that much. She had overheard Himeno ask Hayate about "them" when she was in the garden with Hajime and Shin. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop but her own curiosity got the better of her.

She had heard Hayate's simple reply of, "They're fine." and just by the tone of his voice she had put two and two together.

She was in a bind and there wasn't anyone she could confide in without an overwhelming sense of embarrassment on her pride. There was Himeno, but it just didn't seem appropriate under the circumstances. Besides Mawata who still considered herself young knew Sasame loved Takako and professing the love she still had for Sasame to Himeno wouldn't change the truth of the matter.

There was a part of her that felt utterly betrayed by Sasame who had intentionally broke her heart and whenever she remembered that forbidden kiss he shared with Fenrir it brought hot, jealous tears to her eyes and the image would be burned in her vision for hours reducing her to nothing but a blubbering, love sick child.

Despite all that, his betrayal, his proclaimed love for another woman, and his sudden disappearance from the mansion she still remained naively devoted to him, but only in secret.

It was wrong, and she knew it because Sasame had told her so indirectly in his past radio shows. She needed to 'let go' or her true fear of becoming a pseudo Princess of Disaster could become a reality.

Mawata didn't want to miss out on life, she cherished it, but she also wanted to share her life with him and experience all the wonderful things that this world had to offer.

"But that can never happen." She sadly told herself.

Tonight she had brought out her old recorded sessions and they were left on the railing almost mocking her to listen to them and drown once more in her sorrows. Absent-mindedly she grabbed one and clutched it to her chest for empty comfort and silently vowed to never play them again.

They were only more tears that promised nothing more than empty dreams.

With a heavy conscious and a broken heart she pushed the tapes from the balcony and watched with a sickening expression as they fell to the ground, breaking in pieces as they collided with the cement.

Memories were all she had of him now.

* * *

**End.**


End file.
